Turn on, Tune in, Drop out. The only way her mind got any bigger was when she forced herself to sit there. Sit there, pad open, pen in hand, eyes facing the front board. You're trapped in this lab lecture for the next four hours, best to get comfortable. You feel like the whole world is spinning around you. Everyone is out there, moving, making and shaking while you're trapped here, where things go slow, where things don't happen. Your iPhone is tucked away inside your designer bag. You think to yourself; there's probably a million people texting me, a million notifications, a million things i'll have to reply to when I get out... maybe I can just sneak a glance and move my finger against that "slide to unlock button."

No, don't. You wouldn't dare. Maybe the world isn't as wild as it seems. Maybe the only way to make things really happen out there is to pay attention in here. Maybe too many of us have thrown ourselves to the fast beat notifications that are our iPhones, aka our brains on auto. Maybe the world really isn't going to leave me behind in these next four hours as I learn something that staring at a phone screen couldn't teach me. Maybe I just need to sit here, get lost in this, in this material in front of me. If I can do that, then I can become better. I can move my mind forward and lose myself in something that is truly beautiful and priceless.

May the art of true learning never be replaced. And may you never drop out of the life journey that is expanding your mind.